The Bayt.com ‘Learning in the Workplace in the Middle East and North Africa’ survey, recently conducted by Bayt.com – the Middle East’s leading career site – has revealed that98.2% of respondents in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) find it important to work for an organization that provides learning and training, with79.7% of the respondents considering it “very important”, and18.5% finding it “somewhat important”. Almost all of the respondents surveyed (97.2%) are dedicated to lifelong learning, with seven out of10 being “very dedicated” and22.9% being “somewhat dedicated”.
In terms of organizations and learning, the majority (74.3%) of respondents say that their organizations provide ‘lessons learned’ to their employees, and a further74.6% feel that people in their organization view problems as an opportunity to learn. In fact,72.8% of respondents have stated that their organization encourages people to openly discuss their mistakes in order to learn from them. Additionally,30.6% of respondents are rewarded for learning “all the time” in their organization, and33.7% are rewarded “most of the time”.
The poll also reveals that organizations in the MENA “encourage both new ideas and changing the way things are done”, with half of the participants “strongly agreeing” (51.7%) and29.4% “somewhat agreeing” with the statement. Furthermore, seven out of10 respondents (68.3%) claim that their companies have a systematic approach to learning and training their staff.
Just over half of the employees polled (54%) consider themselves to be at the top of their game when asked about their knowledge of their industry. At the same time,40.1% say they aren’t at the top of their game, and5.9% say they are unsure of the same.
Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com said: “With98.2% of respondents saying that learning opportunities are very important to them, our latest poll cements just how essential it is for organizations to have a systematic approach to learning. Indeed, organizations that provide learning opportunities tend to have high employee motivation, productivity, and loyalty. A good place to start is to assess where employees need most training. Companies and individuals can search for knowledge gaps through standardized tests, like Bayt.com Tests which can be access from the “Resources” section on www.bayt.com. In line with Bayt.com’s efforts to empower people with the tools and information to build their lifestyle of choice, anyone can take these professional tests that cover large amounts of topics like business management, soft skills, and technology.”
While the survey found that employees definitely wanted to learn, it is obvious that preferred learning methods vary greatly among the respondents. The majority of respondents prefer one-on-one coaching (26.2%), followed closely by the traditional classroom method of learning (20.6%). Two out of10 respondents (17.7%) favor self-paced reading;12.8% prefer industry seminars; and11.4% like to learn online. I A majority of the respondents (40.5%) state that the cost of learning is what prevents them most from future education. Another big preventer is time constraints (23.8%), and15.2% of the respondents feel that there is a lack of learning options. Only4.3% of those surveyed say that they don’t enjoy learning.
Aside from the salary, the top motivators at work for respondents include having a good work-life balance (24.6%), getting learning and training opportunities (24.5%), and having a good relationship their manager (17.4%) and co-workers (16.8%).
Data for the Bayt.com ‘Learning in the Workplace in the Middle East and North Africa’ poll was collected online from January14 to February192015, with6,639 respondents from countries in the MENA region including UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.